Today, we have the high-end Discrete 4 Pro audio interface with Synergy Core FX from Antelope Audio for review. Let's take a look at what this "antelope" is capable of and review all of this device's features. If you have not read our detailed review of the Antelope Discrete 8 Pro, we advise you to do so. However, not all users need to record with eight microphones simultaneously or have an excessive number of digital channels. Some people only need half of them. In this case, it makes sense to pay attention to Antelope's little brother Discrete 4 Pro, which is a half of Discrete 8 Pro. The good news is that both models have the same electronics and hardware effects processing capabilities. You can read reviews and watch videos about one model and apply all of the information to the other.
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Best Price on Antelope Discrete 4 Pro Interface
The Discrete 4 Pro is a powerhouse—ideal for engineers, musicians, content creators who demand studio-grade conversion, low-latency performance, and DSP-powered processing. |
Classic Package
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The important prefix "Synergy Core" has now been added to the names of Antelope interfaces. What does this mean? It is Antelope's advanced, proprietary hardware platform that combines ARM processors and FPGAs to simulate classic analog processing devices. Why is such an unusual synergy necessary? The idea is as follows: Rather than creating bulky, expensive racks of hardware, users can simply load hardware plug-ins inside the Antelope interface to achieve the same sound. The manufacturer promises that the resulting sound will be as similar to the original as possible.
FPGAs provide zero latency and parallel processing of multiple channels but have limited computational resources. ARM processors contain hardware FPU blocks and are ideal for realizing complex effects, such as reverb and delay. In addition to powerful processing, the hardware plug-ins recreate the appearance of the original devices. This allows specialists to easily navigate the familiar knobs, switches, and colored meters and arrow indicators. One drawback is that the plug-in names do not include the original brand names, such as SSL or Neumann. Users must guess by brand name, appearance, and description, such as "authentic equalizer from Germany."
By the way, Antelope not only emulates processing instruments, but also the sound characteristics of famous studio microphones! You can purchase Antelope's modeling microphones, which are reasonably priced. Antelope now offers Synergy Core Native plug-ins that work with any sound interface as regular VST3/AAX/AU plug-ins, including those with the new Apple processors.
The Antelope Discrete 4 Pro stands out from other interfaces thanks to its discrete element preamplifiers. Its Thunderbolt 3 connector is compatible with Thunderbolt 2 and allows for minimal latency. There is also a USB connector for compatibility with all computers and laptops.
The Antelope Discrete 4 Pro replaces the previous model of the same name without the "Pro" prefix and features improved hardware. Additional DSPs for hardware effects have been added to the digital part. Now, you can load up to 80 plugins at the same time, with no limit on the complexity of processing. The converter part has also seen improvements in passport parameters by a substantial 6 dB. Signal routing has been improved in the drivers, and the capabilities of top Galaxy models have been added. The Discrete 4 Pro has 14 input and 20 output channels, including four microphone inputs, two guitar inputs, eight ADAT channels, two SPDIF channels, one WC input, and one WC output.
The Antelope Discrete 4 Pro has an all-metal enclosure in a semi-rack format that fits nicely on a desk next to a computer or laptop. Its IPS color screen allows you to monitor the level indicators and adjust the input gain easily.
The specifications are the same as those of the Antelope Discrete 8 Pro, except for the number of channels and the higher model's specific features, such as Talkback. You can find the specifications of the Antelope Audio Discrete 4 Pro audio interface in the "specs" section above in our review.
The Discrete 4 Pro audio interface has four independent headphone outputs. This means each output can send its own signal and sub-mix.
The IPS screen is adjustable for brightness and quite useful. In addition to the small peakmeters, a settings menu appears when you hold down the top button. You can change the meter mode; several options are available. While rotating the knob, the current value of the parameter being changed is displayed. The level adjustment step is 1 dB. The presses (keystrokes) are clearly fixed, and the digital control is easy to operate.
The A1 and A2 inputs can be connected to the TRS jack on your guitar and are brought forward. You can adjust the gain in 1 dB steps with the large, versatile digital encoder knob.
The back panel of the Antelope Discrete 8 Pro contains digital and analog inputs and outputs.
The +18V power connector is nut-locked for increased reliability. The WorldClock connectors have one input and one output. The ADAT connectors allow you to expand the system by adding eight channels for recording and playback. Discrete interfaces have the distinctive feature of being able to connect to a computer via USB and Thunderbolt 3. Both connectors are present at the same time, at the user's discretion.
Combined inputs have an explanatory inscription. TRS 1/4" connectors are only for line inputs, and XLR connectors are only for microphone inputs. There is a two-channel MONITOR line output with enhanced 130dB quality and four TRS line outputs with high 118dB quality.
The digital board is exactly the same as the one in the older model. Here, you can see the FPGA and ARM for hardware effects. The manufacturer also emphasizes the fourth-generation, 64-bit AFC technology with jitter suppression, a feature that competitors do not yet have.
On the monitor output is a two-channel DAC CS43198 with specs of 130 dB, Kg+noise: 115 dB.
The other outputs use an 8-channel DAC chip, the Analog Devices ADAU1966, with specifications of 118 dB and -100 dB (Kg+noise). High-quality OPA1692 DACs are responsible for the line outputs.
A 4-channel ESS ES9842QPRO ADC with 122 dB dynamic range and -116 dB KG+noise is used for digitization.
The manufacturer's pride and joy is the discrete preamplifier circuit with six transistors in each channel. Two-channel analog level controls with digital control THAT 5263 are used for gain control. Gain adjustments are made in 1 dB increments, ranging from 0 to 65 dB. This allows any condenser or dynamic microphone to be successfully connected to the interface.
The headphone amplifier is based on the JRC4565 op-amp.
Drivers and the control panel have come a long way in their evolution, and currently, their stability under Windows is an order of magnitude higher. After testing them extensively on Windows 11, we did not encounter any issues.
Four mixers enable you to create individual sub-mixes for various physical channels, a feature that proves useful in professional settings. However, it is not necessary to mix the signals. You can assign computer channels 1/2 to the physical output and bypass the mixer if necessary.
Compared to the standard panel, there are additional tabs for flexible routing of ADVANCED ROUTING signals.
The ROUTING MATRIX tab allows you to fine-tune channel rerouting between physical and virtual channels.
The AFX tab allows you to select effects from the 37 available in the kit. If you want more options, you can expand them on the Antelope website, where the kits are sold at a 90% discount. The full list of bundled plug-ins includes EQs, compressors, reverbs, and guitar cabinets. It looks like this: VMEQ-5 (three-band tube mid-range EQ), VEQ-1A (two-band tube EQ), VEQ-HLF (two-band tube high-pass filter/low-pass filter), Clear Q (parametric EQ), VCA160 (VCA compressor/limiter), X903 (VCA compressor/limiter), Stay-Levin (variable-mu tube compressor), FET-A76 (FET compressor/limiting amplifier), PowerEX (expander), PowerGate (noise gate), PowerFFC (feed-forward compressor), BA-31 (germanium mic preamp), Gyraf Gyratec IX (dual tube mic preamp with high-pass filter), Auraverb (reverb), A-Tuner (guitar tuner), and 11 shred guitar amps and 11 shred guitar cabinets.
New buyers now have free access to over 90 hardware and 60 software effects for one year, followed by an annual subscription of €10. These prices are quite reasonable and favorable.
To use the hardware effects in your DAW, you need to install the afx2daw plugin. This will unload the CPU from processing, allowing you to use an older computer for creativity. Alternatively, you can choose a quiet, miniature computer like a NUC or a laptop with a modern but not top-of-the-line processor.
The RTL latency is at a record low! It's only 4.6 ms with a 64-sample buffer and a frequency of 44 kHz. The delay will be even lower for the output separately.
The standard ASIO driver panel has a tab where you can set the buffer size in samples.
After some tests/benchmarks, we determined that the interface can support up to 24 channels simultaneously in any mode at frequencies up to 192 kHz. The operating system recognizes the standard devices as four stereo inputs and four stereo outputs, each with channel numbers from 1/2 to 7/8.
We tested the capabilities of the microphone preamps using a Neumann TLM102 condenser microphone and a Telefunken TF17. We directly compared the recording quality with the MOTU M2 with also a THAT 6263 preamp, and with a more expensive separate studio preamp.
We were pleased with the recording results of the Discrete 4 Pro interface because we heard a natural, detailed sound of a high-quality studio level. We also noticed that the infrasound below 20 Hz was cut during digitization, which is not a problem for microphone or guitar inputs because these components require a low-cut filter. Does the sound have its own character? We didn't hear any coloration or emphasis of ranges; timbres were transmitted neutrally, which is ideal for further processing.
Regarding the outputs, the monitor output on our ADAM Audio active monitors sounded excellent. The manufacturer made the right decision to dedicate the output on the 43198 chip to the main monitors. The signal in the Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO headphones is loud enough to provide the playback to the artist.
Finally, we've reached the end of our Antelope Audio Discrete 4 Pro review, it's time to summarize the results. During our testing, we discovered that the Discrete 4 Pro is nearly as good as the older Discrete 8 Pro model. This is a strong argument for choosing this interface. We liked the recording and playback quality, as well as the advanced hardware processing in dozens of interesting plug-ins that don't use CPU resources. Even without a Thunderbolt 2/3 connector, users can record with low latency using a USB connection, which has a round-trip latency of only 4.5 ms — a feature typically only found in top studio audio interfaces.
We hope you enjoyed our review of the Antelope Audio Discrete 4 Pro Synergy Core audio interface. Please feel free to leave your comments, questions, and suggestions in the section below. We will be happy to answer them all as soon as possible. If you already own Discrete 4 Pro and have used it for a while, don't forget to share your impressions and tell us what you liked or disliked about this audio interface.
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9.5
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